IC Attack the Darkness! The Geriatric Brigade

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The men wait earnestly not moving a muscle while the deliberations take place. Rhylls earlier warning to watch the East pays off as a huge gnoll appears slinking about the brush. You hear them cry out and time stops as you watch them loose a volley of spears towards the crouching gnoll. To your surprise four of the spears find there target hitting the gnoll in rapid succession. He falls to the ground with mild giggle as his seemingly last sound.

Bloodclaw seems as shocked as Kissinger at the number and accuracy of the spears. You have a moment to act before he can recover from the shock.

OOC it is your initiative opaopajr opaopajr & spittingimage spittingimage . So far all the humans have attacked. The Nuggals stand ready to charge to your aid should you call them out.
Nikodemus - should you decide to use your sleep spell you could cover an area encompassing the gnoll(s)? to the east, Bloodclaw and the area he came from that he has on occasion looked back to.
 
:shock: /puffle
:blah::word: "Sneaky flanking, Bloodclaw? Disappointing. We'll spare those who surrender now, then we can recover what's left of our relations."
/brandishes Finisher and withdraws (guarded position, 1/3 backward movement)

{OOC - I miss old skool D&D minute rounds, you can actually say enough stuff to sound cool. :shade:}
 
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Nikodemus - should you decide to use your sleep spell you could cover an area encompassing the gnoll(s)? to the east, Bloodclaw and the area he came from that he has on occasion looked back to.
Sounds like a plan.

Nik leaps to his feet, falls over, regains his feet and bellows his mighty enchantment of somnab - somno - falling asleep!
 
Bloodclaws 'smile' disappears from his face as Kissinger sees his jaws open wide and claws come out. His stance shifts as he prepares to pounce. Blood vessels in his eyes begin turning red and drool falls from his mouth. Almost as suddenly as the enraged face appears on his face it is replaced by dropping eyes and a loose jaw. His prepouncing stance gives way to kneeling then falling as he hits the ground snoring.

In the distance you hear what sounds like a large object falling slowly out of a tree in front of you.

Your party stands tense waiting for a counter attack that doesn't come.

Rhyll looks at Nik and asks "Why didn't you do that with the snake men?!?"
 
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Rhyll looks at Nik and asks "Why didn't you do that with the snake men?!?"
"Magic ain't like uncorkin' a bottle!" Nik protests, then pauses. "Well, I guess it's a bit like uncorkin' a bottle. But first you got to put something in the bottle! Ain't had nothing in my bottle for years. Just ask the wife," he grumbles.
 
Rhyll hears the casual mention of an unsatisfied wife and looks at you with disgust.
"Wizards!" He says almost as a curse before walking out to dispatch Bloodclaw.
(Unless someone stops him)
 
:shock::word: "OH SHIT!" :hurry:
/turns and runs for a pace before turning back noticing battle seems over

:dead::word: "Sorry for the cowardice back there, i just saw my life flash before my eyes. Bloodclaw's name now seems appropriate." :thumbsup: "Nuggals, Rhyll, everybody, feel free to keep us alive as you deem fit with such treacherous enemies." :shade: "Ahh, delegation, that's how leaders let their men show their worth. And obviously my lead is letting them shine!"

:goof::thought: {So... Finisher, seems like that was not my wisest hour back there. Yet how did you like my masterful parley? Could've started a salt contract, y'know. Dunno what for besides our town's livestock, but that's neither here nor there...}
/proud braaap-y fart

/saunters to my beloved Moonpie & Lulu, comforting them and basking in their glow
:kiss::thought: {My fans who appreciate my tactical genius!}
 
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Rhyll catches the apology while passing Kissinger. He waves for some men to follow as he deals with Bloodclaw. "You want any alive for more questions?" he asks while walking deeper into the ruins ahead.
 
{OOC - Yes! I get to exercise my low charisma again! :shade:}

:grin::word: "I dunno, let's ask Nik! Hey Nik, I'm out of juju juice for the day, you? If any prisoners try to murder us in the night could we stop 'em?"
 
Rhyll gets bored waiting for an answer and heads off into the brush to deal with whatever waits ahead.

He comes back wiping blood from a dagger. "Two more gnolls and some dog man." he says gruffly. "I didn't really check the bodies I just wanted them dealt with before they woke up." he continues before asking "What now boss?"
 
:blah::word: "Thanks Rhyll. Perhaps that spell took a lot out of Nik. Go have a looksie on him and if he's napping put him next to Gruffyn. Gruffyn hides extremely well when napping."
:smile::word: "McAllister & Reid, bring your weapons & item sacks, let's go check upon these corpses. Spot, bring another Nuggle buddy -- besides Thor, he's a bit sore for the day -- and help us make sense of this magical 'Dog Man'."
:smile::word: "Porlan, I almost got everyone killed just now being a naive old man thinking gnolls could be our friends. You may want to remember for future reference that this was not my brightest idea -- just in case I don't make it or something. We need to think of where to dispose of these bodies and make a defendable camp soon, so ask around if everyone is ready to take a break in the near future."
:heart::word: "Moonpie & Lulu, I love you. Glad you were not eaten by those Snakies and Gnollies. Who's a good girl? Who?" :kiss:
 
Nik's snoring turns to protests. "I'm not asleep! I'm - memorising spells!" He blinks at the gnolls with their throats cut. "That one went off better'n I remember. What's roasted gnoll taste like?"

(Sorry for the slackness.)
 
"I just thought you were trying to pump him for information. You thought he'd actually trade with you?". Porlan replies a bit shocked. "You need to toughen up fellow or we're all goin to be on the menu soon!" He warns.

Rhyll takes some men to search the bodies. They come back with four battle axes, a book and a few coins. "We left a questionable collection of what must pass for Gnoll food." He says.

The collection of men cheer another victory some handling the new axes with pride. They look to their leaders wondering what's next.
 
:worried::word: "Well, I was trying to pump him for information, but he was so adept at evading my subjects. I'm not really the best at conversation." /punctuating fart
:grin::word: "But that's why we have you, Porlan! You help me make friends. :hmmm: I wonder if you could have got us the trade deal..."

:smile::word: "Mind if Nik takes a gander at that book while we go find a safe place to camp, Rhyll? I wonder if it'd be safer to camp here or a ways from here? This place seems too busy for my comfort, but it looks defensible. I am open to experienced warrior advice."


:goof::word: "Nik, let us know if there's anything important in that book. Otherwise I'll let you risk horror at any pornographic nude gnoll or dogman scrawlings." :hehe:
 
"Probably a cookbook with a chapter on how to serve up human," Nik complains, but takes the book.
 
Nik looks at the well bound book and quickly realizes it has the look of a spellbook. It would take a read magic spell to decipher it

Rhyll looks up at the sun to estimate the time. "Looks to be a couple hours past noon. Feels like it's been years since we arrived and first encountered the snakies in the swamp. Now Gnolls. I don't know how much I like the prospects of spending a night here even with the little fortifications the men have built in these ruins. Perhaps we should push on?" he asks Nik and Kissinger.

For the men's part they seem in high spirits celebrating two victories in one day. "Ay! Let's take the fight to these bastards!" McAllister says while Olaf and the others nod in agreement. The Nuggals seem more vigilant than their human companions staying alert to the possible dangers around.
 
:thumbsup::word: "Yes, moving on is a good idea. Lemme usher Nik atop Lulu so we can have him read and get to a new camp." :hehe: "... I wonder if I should leave Lulu's tether to Gruffyn's leg on lest we forget about him napping in these reeds."

/going to the Nuggals cradling Moonpie in my arms as she gives me kisses :kiss:
:ooh::word: "Sooo, taking a closer look at the corpse of the magical dog-man -- who is not a Nuggal! -- that works with scary Gnolls... Gnolls who trade with Snakies... Any stories you guys can share why these magical dog-men are considered bad news among your people? Seems like we might be dipping into a grand collection of naughty bad guys." :worried: "I wonder how this affects our chances of saving our loved ones, and whether we should hurry!"
 
Nik yawns as he climbs atop Lulu. "I should get back to memorising. Never know when you'll need me to defeat another gnoll army."

"Cup o' tea would be nice..." he mumbles and starts snoring again.
 
:sleep: :word:"Mmmmm, salted mystery meat..." /smacks lips :yawn::sleep: "Sell it as Snakie bacon!"
 
You push forward into the ruined area the Gnolls and Dogman were based out of. Breaking through the trees you enter a large ruined pedestal, larger in area than the previous two areas you've explored. Close to where you find the Dogman's body you see roughly 20' wide stairs descending into the darkness. The Dogman has a wide face coming to a sharp pointed nose. The fur is brown with black stripes. It looks vaguely fox like to you. Porlan and Fido examine the corpse and confer.
"Sorry Boss. Neither of us have every seen anything quite like this. I've heard legends of beast men but the descriptions tend to change with the teller so hard to say if this is related to any particular legend." he says with a shrug before adding "This one doesn't look like a fighter though. No armor, spellbook apparently came from him."

Rhyll points to the stairs and says "There's tracks here. Hard to say exactly how many but a larger group than you see here went down those steps since the last rain."
 
:trigger::word: "Hmm, do any of these foot-paw-prints look like they are human or nuggal, instead of gnoll or this strange dog-fox-man? :worried: Our first priority is to save our people, especially from sacrifice to a dark ritual. I am willing to let as many as necessary take a look so we can determine (or eliminate) this place as the source of our loved ones."

/spends extra group time to really make sure this isn't a red herring :thumbsup:
 
Nik startles awake with a wheeze. "Send a scout. 'S what we need to do. I'll go." He slides off the donkey and tumbles to the ground in a heap. "Can someone help me get my foot untangled from the bridle?"
 
Reid helps Nik get untangled shaking his head during the process.

Rhyll, Porlan and Fido examine the tracks.
"Lot's of creatures have been this way. Whatever is down there it's more than just some small cave. Fido says he smells faint human and nuggal odors, strong Gnoll and something similar to the dog man." Porlan relays to you two.
 
:trigger::word: "Hmm, given a strong smell to the gnolls and 'other' dog-man, and faint smell to human and nuggal, that could be a hint that we are along the right path at a slight delay. We should check if the gnoll and 'other' dog-man smell is exactly the same to our recently dead traders, or if these smells are different." :grin: /flatulence of inspiration! "If they are the same that means our traders were coming this way and stopped over at this cave for a rest. And then our loved ones are further on that a way and we should get a move on because their smell is getting faint!"

:quiet::word: "Or I am assuming too much, the cave is a gigantic underground road system, and we could all die exhausted chasing fading scents. Odd because if they traded with the Snakies and this is a small camping ruin they should have heard us fighting if they were camped here. Or talked about our loved ones when I mentioned it, because they could have smelled odors similar to us, if they were not involved..."

:ooh::word: "Do you think that maybe it is not just Snakies involved? Do we have enough light sources, time, and fighting power to spare a quick explore? Let's take half an hour inside to find any leads!"
 
Fido listens eagerly to your comments. He and the other Nuggals sniff carefully to try and determine where the Gnolls might have come from if not the steps down. After a short while Fido confers with Porlan.

"They came from down there for sure. From smell and what they can see of trails and paths this seems to be a nexus of travel. If I had to guess I'd say there's something large enough to hold a Gnoll clan and maybe the dog-men as well. They think their people were taken down there. " Porlan relays.
 
:grin::word: "..." /stares at the gaping entrance and then back at everyone else

:grin::word: "Think we got anymore fight in us yet? Maybe even risk resting inside underground for Thor's healing & fresh spells?"
:blah::word: "Or take a nap out here while they sacrifice our loved ones?":grin:
 
Rhyll looks around at the group and reports "I seem to be the only one hurt and not badly at that. The men are ready if you and the wizard have it in you to continue. "

"Have you any magic left in you or are we relying on the men's fighting skill and our excellent battle tactics?" Porlan asks with no small hint of sarcasm.
 
(Assuming it's still the same day and Nik doesn't have his spell slot back)

Nik shakes his head. "Gotta meditate and get the humours right. Can't do magic when your humours are curdled. It's like --" he gestures vaguely, searching for a metaphor, "-- like tryna spread butter what ain't been churned proper."
 
:quiet: /pensively passes gas
:thumbsup::word: "Well I do like naps and I'm outta answerable prayers myself. Hopefully Big Thor-dog will recover with a good rest, too."
:dice::word: "But it's up to you guys if you wanna risk our chances without extra aces up our sleeve! Do we all feel extra lucky?"
 
:sleep::thought: {:grin::word: "Hey guys, did we ever decide about that nap?" :worried: "Guys?" :crossed: "Oh shoot, I might be already dreaming..."}
 
Rhyll seems bouyed by the series of successes with little loss of life and rallies "Onwards!"
To which the men and Nuggals respond positively.

Porlan however whispers to the two of you "I think the men may overestimate themselves and underestimate the impact of your various sorceries."

Everyone looks to you two as the leaders for direction but the mood favors pressing forward.
 
:sleep::thought: (:errr::thought: (:shock::word: "Did we go to sleep... or are we at a deeper level of Inception?"))
 
:sleep::thought: (:errr::thought: (:shock::word: "Did we go to sleep... or are we at a deeper level of Inception?"))
Sorry. I think we left off with a crew willing/eager to go forward but they're trusting you guys to make the call.
 
{OOC - I would assume both of Kissinger & Nik are napping and the rest of the crew seems disappointed in our passing out in front of them. :clown: Start us "somewhere safe" according to imperfect NPC knowledge and we'll take it from there?:grin: And then we still have to pray and memorize spells in the morning! ...Also, it gives you time to level up any PCs/NPCs, especially since you are in the middle of making characters for January.:devil: Pretty please and thank you, GM!:heart:}
 
Rhyll, a few men and Fido venture briefly down the steps returning quickly. "Bats and batshit." Rhyll reports. The men lose some of their bravery with the thought of going down into the dark without any magic to back them up. The group grabs the bodies from the surrounding area and sink them into the swamp before returning to the treeline where you camped the night before. An uncomfortable but uneventful night leaves you all rested and ready to explore the depths. Returning carefully you encounter no additional hostiles.

Torches lit you descend the steps. The air reeks of bat guano which covers the floor in a slime. You enter a large roughly square room perhaps 30' to a side with ceilings a similar distance. Large numbers of bats are visible moving across the ceiling agitated by the light of your torches. You stop at the base of the stairs seeing and exit on the midpoint of each wall. The men look to you for direction.
 
"Mmm. Left is m' lucky direction," Nik muses. "I always turn left, if there's a choice. O'course, there was that one time when heading right would have taken us into the ladies baths and turning left took us into the boiler room which was staffed by minotaurs with coal shovels. One of 'em smacked my best hat right off my head 'cos he thought my skull went all the way to the top. But most of the time it works."
 
Rhyll leads the way into the room. You can hear the squelching of his boots in the guano as he moves through the room. The bats above move about the ceiling annoyed by the light of the torches but otherwise leave you alone.
"Watch out. It's slippery." he quietly says to the rest coming down the stairs.
He looks down the left hallway and replys "It goes about 10-15' and then dead ends. Scouting the other exits he reports back "Some kind of grand hallway straight and a normal hall out to the right that goes maybe 20' before turning left."
He waits for your directions before scouting further.
 
:quiet::word: "Hmm, this seems like a job for listening to our Nuggle buddies. I wonder if their noses and ears can help us get to our loved ones faster."
:grin: :word: "Y'know, it must be so useful to be able to smell such information. But given all this bat shit around it's probably as much of a burden as a blessing, too."
:ooh::word: "Oh, that was probably rude... sorry." /tweeter fart of awkwardness
 
The Nuggals sniff the air. You see the smell of the guanno almost overwhelms their senses but the point to the exit to the east.
 
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